For users who just got their new Samsung Galaxy S10, here is how to enter the recovery mode on it. The following steps are written to work with Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus as well as Galaxy S10e. All three phones come with a stock recovery built-in and accessing it is quite easy — using our step-by-step guide below. Rather than just adding a simple option to reboot to recovery mode within the standard UI, Samsung, just like other manufacturers, keeps it hidden away. This is to prevent accidental access which can then lead to malfunction, if not dealt with correctly. However, as we have experienced in other Android phones, recovery partition is quite helpful and here is how to boot into it on Samsung Galaxy S10 / Galaxy S10+ / Galaxy S10e.

Google intended the recovery mode to be a maintenance oriented back-door into Android OS. Similar to what a BIOS utility would be on a computer, recovery mode is pre-built into each Galaxy S10. However, users need to know the exact procedure to access it. For features and functions, recovery mode can be used to factory reset your phone, install update ZIP files, wipe cache. Further, if you have a custom recovery like TWRP installed, the functionality is extended quite a bit. To note, procedure for accessing recovery remains the same regardless if you are running stock recovery or not. To make it easier to implement we have listed the complete process of entering Galaxy S10 recovery mode right ahead broken down into simpler steps.

Some Android phones, like the Sony Xperia series do not come with a stock Android recovery at all, and in that case, we would have to load a custom recovery first to that phone and then enter it. However, Samsung Android phones do come with a stock recovery and some Android specific functions i.e. installing a software update, doing a full hard reset etc. are only performed through a Recovery Mode. Whenever you do them, the phone first takes you to the stock Android recovery and then performs that specific function.

What is Recovery Mode?

Recovery is something built natively into the Android source code. Almost all phones ship with the stock recovery unlocked and open to the user. Samsung in this case is also very open. You can easily access the recovery partition and there won’t be no damage to your warranty.

Functions available in this mode are primarily maintenance oriented. First function you are able to utilize is the ability to apply an update. Very handy feature indeed. Once a firmware is released by Samsung, it is pushed to all devices. After getting downloaded, phone boots into recovery and flashes the update. Also, if you don’t get the update straight from Samsung, you can download the update zip from the internet and apply that as well. This helps when you are experiencing long delays in updates.

Afterwards, you would notice wipe data or factory reset option along with wipe cache. These are used when you are short on internal space or just want to reset your device. Deleting cache only deletes temporary files while wiping data resets whole of the device leaving no user data behind. If you face some force closes or slow-downs, using these will surely help.

Alongside the benefits it’s our duty to also provide warnings. As this is a crucial partition which has advanced capabilities otherwise not available in the stock system, it can cause prolonged problems. If you are not sure what you are doing, don’t select or implement any of the options. However, measures are in place to reduce errors as much as possible. Validation checks are used before flashing any file so that fatal problems can be avoided.

Custom recoveries are built on top of the stock ones. This means the stock functions will all be there. The difference is the capabilities are enhanced. A popular Custom recovery like ClockWorkMod (CWM) or TWRP (TeamWin Recovery Project) give you the ability to create system wide backups, manually format each partition, fix permissions and much more. Even if you install a custom recovery, accessing it will remain exactly the same.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Recovery Mode

You can enter Recovery Mode on the Samsung Galaxy S10 using the following three methods:

by hardware buttons

by ADB on Windows

by ADB on Mac OS X

Let’s have a look at each method below. You can use whichever way you find the easiest.

NOTE: The following steps can be used to enter Samsung Galaxy S10 Recovery Mode, applicable to all variants of the phone. The screenshots below are from another Samsung device, but they illustrate the buttons and functions correctly for the Samsung Galaxy S10.